That is the verdict of Tom Little, who was beaten by Dubois in 2018 and is often a sparring partner for Joyce.
This intriguing showdown (live on BT Sport 1 HD) is being billed as the youthful speed and power of ‘Dynamite’ Daniel against the granite chin and durability of Joyce.
The bookmakers make the 23-year-old Dubois (15-0) a 1-4 favourite with Joyce (11-0) the 3-1 underdog.
The 33-year-old Little though believes there will be a shock, explaining: ““I think Joe is going to beat him and I hope he does
“I have tossed back and forward over this fight. I’ve wrestled with it physically.
“When I say I want Joe to win, it’s not because I don’t like Daniel. I like Daniel, he is a nice boy and I have no hard feelings towards him.
“I just think it is a fight too early for him against someone who has big amateur pedigree and fought big names as a professional.”
As already stated, Little has felt first-hand the power Dubois possesses. He lost their meeting inside five rounds in 2018. And he has been giving Joyce tips ahead of the huge collision on Saturday week.
“The first minute of that fight is going to be so important in the fact that Joe needs to take his jab away.
“I can tell you first hand, Daniel Dubois has got a jab like a straight right hand. It hurts a lot, believe me.
“Joe knows this. I have spoken with him about it. I genuinely think that Joe is capable of taking that jab away.
“If he can do that, Daniel doesn’t carry that concussive hurtful power. He is so so strong but doesn’t carry that power up close in short to mid-range.
“Joe will be horrible for him to fight, a bit like Dereck Chisora would be for Daniel. Joe doesn’t let you fight at your pace. It’s impossible to fight at your pace.”
While Dubois has undoubted power to burn, it will need to be something else to KO Joyce. As Little himself knows only too well.
He said: “Hand on heart. I hit Joe on the side of the head with a shot that I would have thrown in a pub. I literally bent down, scratched my ankle and threw the shot.
“It was the sort of punch you’d throw on a punch ball machine on a booze-up. I threw it with everything and he went back a little bit, but came straight firing back into me in the spar.
“Hurting him is going to be a problem for Daniel, but none of us are machines or robots.
“It is genuinely a fight where you look and you can make such a strong case for both.”
